Normally the walk past the San Leandro Creek at the corner of East 14th and Chumalia Street is the highlight of my route to downtown, but lately it's been marred by an abundance of potheads. The landing at the base of the wooden stairs that twist down to the creek itself has become a hangout for pot smokers, with packs of teens and young adults finding their way there in order to get high. The odor of weed frequently wafts up, sometimes strong enough that it can be smelled from across the street as you leave the CVS parking lot. What should be a spot of serenity in our city has instead become a den for drug users.
Considering how close this entrance to the creek is to the SLPD, it would seem an odd place for people to go and light up. Sadly, the cops are flying by in police cars, so it's fairly reasonable to expect that they might not notice people smoking many feet below the road. I'd still like to think that a member of the SLPD would suspect that an out of the way spot like this might attract that sort of crowd. If nothing else, you'd think the graffiti on the wall would've raised a red flag.
Many families and elderly people make the walk past the corner of East 14th and Chumalia, so I think it's worth noting what's happening in the area. A lot of the folks who are heading to the creek to smoke (and whatever else they might be doing) are from a darker walk of life, rolling up in their cars and throwing trash to the curb and engaging passerby for change (sometimes for other things). If CVS is indeed planning on leaving their location next to the creek, this area has the potential to get pretty scummy pretty quick.
Still, that's all doom and gloom when there's every opportunity to turn things around. SLPD will hopefully start taking notice of the tweakers heading down to the creek and do their best to catch them in action. Beyond that, everyone has to do their part to report these guys if there seems to be something rotten going down. Here's hoping volunteers can soon stop fishing blunt butts out of the water.
